Thebæ

(arum), a celebrated city, the capital of Bœotia, situate on the banks of the river Is menus. The manner of its foundation is not precisely known. Cadmus is supposed to have first begun to found it by building the citadel Cadmea. It was afterwards finished by Amphion and Zethus; but, according to Varro, it owed its origin to Ogyges. The government of Thebes was monarchical, and many of the sovereigns are celebrated for their misfortunes, such as Laius, Œdip us, Polynices, Eteocles, . The war which Thebes supported against the Argives, is famous as well as that of the Epigoni. The The bans were looked upon as an indolent and sluggish nation, and the words of Theban pig , became proverbial to expre a man remarkable for stupidity and inattention. This, however, was not literally true; under Epa min on das, the The bans, though before dependent, became masters of Greece, and everything was done according to their will and pleasure. When Alexander invaded Greece, he ordered Thebes to be totally demolished, because it had revolted against him, except the house where the poet Pindar had been born and educated. In this dreadful period 6000 of its inhabitants were slain, and 30,000 sold for slaves. Thebes was afterwards repaired by Cas sander the son of Anti pater, but it never rose to its original consequence, and Strabo, in his age, mentions it merely as an inconsiderable village. The monarchical government was abolished there at the death of Xanthus, about 1190 years before Christ, and Thebes became a republic. It received its name from Thebe the daughter of Asopus, to whom the founder Amphion was nearly related. Apollo dor us , bk. 2 , ch. 4 , . — Mela , bk. 2 , ch. 3 .— Pausanias , bk. 2 , ch. 6 ; bk. 9 , ch. 5 .— Strabo , bk. 9 .— Plutarch , Pelopidas , Pelopidas , & Alexander .— Cornel i us Nepos , Pelopidas , Epa min on das , . — Horace , Art of Poetry , li. 394 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses .――A town at the south of Troas, built by Hercules, and also called Placia and Hypoplacia . It fell into the hands of the Cilicians, who occupied it during the Trojan war. Curtius , bk. 3 , ch. 4 .— Livy , bk. 37 , ch. 19 .— Strabo , bk. 11 .――An ancient celebrated city of Thebais in Egypt, called also Hecatompylos , on account of its 100 gates, and Diospolis , as being sacred to Jupiter. In the time of its splendour, it extended above 23 miles, and upon any emergency could send into the field, by each of its 100 gates, 20,000 fighting men and 200 chariots. Thebes was ruined by Cambyses king of Persia, and few traces of it were seen in the age of Juvenal. Pliny , bk. 5 , ch. 9 .— Juvenal , satire bk. 15, li. 16 .— Tacitus , Annals , bk. 2 .— Hero dot us , bks. 2 & 3.— Diodorus , bk. 2 .— Homer , Iliad , bk. 9 , li. 381 .— Strabo , bk. 17 .— Mela , bk. 1 , ch. 9 .――A town of Africa, built by Bacchus.――Another in The aly. Livy , bk. 28 , ch. 7 .――Another in Phthiotis.